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Ahead of UFC Fight Night Kansas CityMMA Plus spoke to bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling about his upcoming fight, Chris Weidman vs Gegard Mousasi and Daniel Cormier‘s “towel trick”.

Aljamain, commonly known as “Funkmaster” due to his non-traditional style of competing in his wrestling days at college, faces Brazilian Augusto Mendes.

With near-perfect records for both Sterling (12-2) and Mendes (6-1) the bout has all the hallmarks of a potential barnburner. For New Yorker Sterling, this is a must-win fight after two controversial split-decision losses on the bounce.

Sterling shocked as Assuncao’s hand is raised
Credit: UFC

“Tanquinho”, who’s only loss comes in the form of current UFC champion Cody Garbrandt, will be looking to build on the win against Frankie Saenz at Fight Night 103 in January.

Despite recent setbacks, Sterling remains very confident of a result and is looking to make a huge statement when he enters the octagon this weekend. “I think I’m going to finish him in the first round” Sterling stated. “I’m a finisher. A win here, especially a finish, is going to let everybody know that I am the real deal.”

Sterling, who has been a victim of controversial decisions himself, elaborated on eventful talking points at UFC 210 which included the bizarre ending to the fight between his teammate Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi as well as a much-ridiculed weigh-in involving light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.

On the Mousasi victory, Sterling explained his views. “I definitely caught the fight. Almost beat someone up at the bar for chatting sh-t about my teammate” he humorously stated.

Mousasi throws another left hand on his way to a TKO victory
Credit: UFC

“I thought it was a good call, at first. The best way to explain it to people is it’s an unintentional foul. People want to say it’s legal but playing it frame-by-frame, nobody really knows. In any competition, the judge is the sole supervisor. So whatever call he makes is the final call.

Then for a side referee to come in and say ‘look, it’s a legal knee’ after telling the fighter he has 5 minutes, it’s wrong. Then the doctors come in and say he can’t continue, telling Weidman, ‘you’ve lost’. But that doesn’t make any sense. If they’d have told him he had to continue, he’d have carried on fighting.” exclaimed fellow Serra-Longo Fight Team athlete Sterling.

I thought Dan Miragliotta did a terrible job and Chris was fine, I saw Chris afterward, everyone saw Chris on the TV, saying that he is fine. At the end of the day, the result is on him [Dan Miragliotta]”.

The Funkmaster reenacts “Towel Gate”

Sterling also mimicked Daniel Cormier’s dramatic weigh-in fiasco where he seemingly balanced his weight on the towel provided to make the 205lb limit. “It was simply a joke” Aljamain stated.

“But I think it was hysterical he got away with it. I mean did he get away with it? Or was a blind eye being turned? I’m not too sure. I just hope if I ever struggle making weight, I can have a little tug on that towel.”

The ambitious Sterling, who believes he will be UFC champion one day, signaled his intent to fight in his native New York. “I would love to fight in New York. They’ve got a July 22nd card coming up at the Nassau Coliseum, it’s literally two and a half blocks from where I grew up and lived for 15 years of my life.”

“To fight there where all my friends and family are… It’s in my hometown of Uniondale. So for me to fight there, I know that I could bring a huge crowd.”

Aljamain hasn’t fought more than twice in a calendar year since 2011. He explains how he ‘isn’t getting any younger’ and how staying active is now crucial for him.

Sterling, who insisted he doesn’t want to depart the UFC stated that he would love to rematch Raphael Assuncao. He explains how he “feels like he is fighting Assuncao again. They’re the exact same.”

However, “Funkmaster” insists he is not looking past Mendes. Also, to back up his claim of an immediate finish, he excitedly revealed “I think this is the one fight where people are going to see some crazy sh-t from me.”